South Korea's chief presidential secretary said Friday that Japan has displayed a tendency towards militarism by mentioning the possibility of a preemptive attack on North Korea in the wake of the communist state's missile launches.
Lee Byung-wan, chief of staff to President Roh Moo-hyun, said any consent to Japan's hard-line attitudes, including militaristic and bellicose displays, would threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula.
"North Korea's missile launches had long been anticipated, yet Japan has shown an overly sensitive reaction and fanned hard-line sentiment worldwide. Tokyo's Cabinet ministers even took turns mentioning a preemptive strike on the North, displaying an aspect of Japanese militarism," Lee said, speaking to a group of local businessmen at a seminar hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.
"The Japanese leaders' attitudes towards Korean comfort women of the (1910-45) colonial years, visits to the Yasukuni Shrine (honoring Japanese war criminals), the South Korean islets of Dokdo and distortion of shared history, as well as their concurrence with the Japanese ultra-rightist forces, have largely reflected their real intentions."
Lee then stressed that South Korea is responsible for deterring any war on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee's criticism followed recent remarks by Japan's chief government spokesman, Shinzo Abe, that his country may study whether a preemptive move to attack North Korean missile bases is in line with Japan's constitutional right to defend itself.
Abe has also expressed his support for Tokyo developing a capability to counterattack in the event of North Korean missile launches targeting Japan.
The already-strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo have been further chilled by their different approaches to the North's missile tests, which were conducted on July 5. The missles fell into the sea between Korea and Japan.
Seogwipo, July 21 (Yonhap News)
President Roh's top secretary attacks Japan's 'militarism' |
